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Difference between revisions of "Paulus Hector Mair"

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|-  
 
|-  
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]], [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]], and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna]] Versions</p>
+
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna]] Versions</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]] Versions</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]] Versions</p>
! <p>{{rating|Start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|C}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]] and [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna I Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825)}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna I Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825)}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]]</p>
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| [[file:Mair dussack 41.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair dussack 41.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
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|  
[41]  
+
[41] '''A way of placing the dussack on the opponent's neck and push him'''
 +
 
 +
The following device is performed in this manner: step forward with your right foot and hold your dussack raised over your head. If your opponent is standing before you this way, then step forward with your left foot and strike from above to his head. If he strikes you in this manner, then you too step forward with your left foot and parry him with the long edge. Then you step to your opponent's left so that your foot is standing below beside his left foot. Then you turn your dussack so that your point is pointing toward your opponent's right and swiftly grab hold of the middle of your dussack with your left hand and press against your opponent's neck with the long edge forward, and then with all your might push him back with your dussack, and if you at the same time put your foot in  behind his knee, you can throw him over by pulling him to you. If you are held in the same manner above and below, then reach with your left hand under his right and raise it up. Then, if you as quickly as you can try to thrust him in the face, he will have to let you go, and parry your thrust, and this way you will get away safe and sound.
 
|  
 
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| {{section|page:Cod.10825 117r.png|German|lbl=117r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10825 117r.png|German|lbl=117r}}
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| [[file:Mair dussack 42.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair dussack 42.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[42]  
+
[42] '''A strike from above followed by an arm-lock'''
 +
 
 +
In this device you stand with your left foot forward and hold your dussack with the right arm outstretched in a strike from above, so that the long edge is pointing forward. Then you step forward with your right foot and strike straight toward his head with the long edge. If the opponent does this to you, then step forward with your right foot toward him and strike as well against his strike and thrust your point into his face so that you parry his strike with the short edge, but when you are doing so, make sure to step in with your left foot and reach with your arm over his right arm behind his dussack, so that you have it firmly locked behind your shoulder blade. If your opponent is holding you in the same manner, then place your right foot on the inside behind his left and quickly turn your arm to the left and put it around his neck, and then you grab hold above his chest and pull him over your left foot, that way he will fall over and can do no more.
 
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| {{section|page:Cod.10825 117v.png|German|lbl=117v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10825 117v.png|German|lbl=117v}}
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| [[file:Mair dussack 43.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair dussack 43.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[43]  
+
[43] '''A throwing technique with the dussack'''
 +
 
 +
In this device you stand with your right foot forward and strike a feigned strike from above at your opponent, and at the same time you step forward with your left foot, but as soon as you have pulled back the strike, you move the point in toward his face. If your opponent tries to do the same, and thrusts towards your face, and you are standing in the scale position, then step forward with your left foot and your dussack raised with straight arm over your head, with the point toward the opponent and the long edge up. If you do this, as well as you thrust with the point toward the left side of his face you will parry his thrust to your right. Then you go down into the scale position with your left leg outside his left and hold your dussack in protection with the long edge facing up. Then you grab hold of with your left hand in his left foot that he has stepped forward with, lift it up and strike from below to his arm with the long edge and the outermost part of your dussack, and at the same time you hold your dussack in good defense resting against his right arm, and in this manner you can throw your opponent over. If he were to do the same to you, then grab hold with your left hand in the inside of his wrist, and pull hard toward you, that way you will force him to fall with you if he does not let go.
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10825 118r.png|German|lbl=118r}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10825 118r.png|German|lbl=118r}}
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| [[file:Mair dussack 44.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
| [[file:Mair dussack 44.jpg|400x400px|center]]
 
|  
 
|  
[44]  
+
[44] '''Another technique in the same manner'''
 +
 
 +
In this device, where both of you are using the same technique, and both are standing with left foot forward, and you are holding your dussack with straight arm, so that the long edge is facing up, and you direct your point from your left side into the opponent's face. Then you lower your dussack a little and turn your hand so that the short edge is facing up, and strike twice toward your opponent's head. If your opponent strikes his point into your face, you enter scale position, and pull in your right hand you are holding your dussack with, towards your chest and turn up the point and remove his thrust with the long egde, and if he tries to strike twice to your head, raise the dussack in defence so that the long edge is facing up, and thrust into his face. Then you lower the dussack and grab hold of his left foot that he has forward, and lift it up. Of he tries to strike at your head at the same time you step forward out of your parry and remove his strike you your left, and lay the dussack with the long edge against his right hand. Then you push away from you above, as you lift up below and he will fall to the ground. If you were to be held by your opponent in the same way, then grab hold as quickly as you can with your left hand onto the inside of his right hand, press down and pull against you, and he will fall with you, and you stop him from placing his dussack to your arm, and in the fall you can hit him in the head.
 
|  
 
|  
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10825 118v.png|German|lbl=118v}}
 
| {{section|page:Cod.10825 118v.png|German|lbl=118v}}
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna]] Versions</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna]] Versions</p>
! <p>{{rating|start}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]] and [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|C}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]] and [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna I Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825)}}<br/>by [[Dieter Bachmann]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna I Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825)}}<br/>by [[Dieter Bachmann]]</p>
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! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version]]</p>
 
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version]]</p>
! <p>{{rating|B}}<br/>by [[Reinier van Noort]]and [[Saskia Roselaar]]</p>
+
! <p>{{rating|B}}<br/>by [[Reinier van Noort]] and [[Saskia Roselaar]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden I Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.93)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna I Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825)}}<br/>by [[Julia Gräf]]and [[Ingo Petri]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna I Transcription]] [German] (1550s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825)}}<br/>by [[Julia Gräf]]and [[Ingo Petri]]</p>
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|-  
 
|-  
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna]] Versions</p>
+
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.10825/10826)|Vienna]] Versions</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|b}}<br/>by [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|b}}<br/>by [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
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|-  
 
|-  
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version]]</p>
+
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden]] and [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (Cod.icon. 393)|Munich]] Versions</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|c}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]] and [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|c}}<br/>by [[Keith P. Myers]] and [[Per Magnus Haaland]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}<br/>by [[Pierre-Henry Bas]]</p>
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|-  
 
|-  
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
 
! <p>Source Images</p>
! <p>Images</p>
+
! <p>Images<br/>from the [[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden Version]]</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|c}}<br/>by [[Robert Kraaijeveld]]</p>
 
! <p>{{rating|c}}<br/>by [[Robert Kraaijeveld]]</p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}<br/></p>
 
! <p>[[Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MSS Dresd.C.93/C.94)|Dresden II Transcription]] (1540s){{edit index|Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (MS Dresd.C.94)}}<br/></p>

Revision as of 23:15, 28 November 2018

Paulus Hector Mair

"Mair", Cod.icon. 312b f 64r
Born 1517
Augsburg, Germany
Died 10 Dec 1579 (age 62)
Augsburg, Germany
Occupation
  • Civil servant
  • Historian
Movement
Influences
Genres
Language
Manuscript(s)
First printed
english edition
Knight and Hunt, 2008
Concordance by Michael Chidester
Translations Traduction française
Signature Paulus Hector Mair Sig.png

Paulus Hector Mair (Paulsen Hektor Mair, Paulus Hector Meyer; 1517 – 1579) was a 16th century German aristocrat, civil servant, and fencer. He was born in 1517 to a wealthy and influential Augsburg patrician family. In his youth, he likely received training in fencing and grappling from the masters of Augsburg fencing guild, and early on developed a deep fascination with fencing treatises. He began his civil service as a secretary to the Augsburg City Council; by 1541, Mair was the City Treasurer, and in 1545 he also took on the office of Master of Rations.

Mair's martial background is unknown, but as a citizen of a free city he would have had military obligations whenever the city went to war, and as a member of a patrician family he likely served in the cavalry. He was also an avid collector of fencing treatises and other literature on military history. Like his contemporary Joachim Meÿer, Mair believed that the Medieval martial arts were being forgotten, and he saw this as a tragedy, idealizing the arts of fencing as a civilizing and character-building influence on men. Where Meÿer sought to update the traditional fencing systems and apply them to contemporary weapons of war and defense, Mair was more interested in preserving historical teachings intact. Thus, some time in the latter part of the 1540s he commissioned what would become the most extensive compendium of German fencing treatises ever made, a massive two-volume manuscript compiling virtually every fencing treatise he could access. He retained Jörg Breu the Younger to create the illustrations for the text,[1] and hired two Augsburg fencers to pose for the illustrations.[2] This project was extraordinarily expensive and took at least four years to complete. Ultimately, three copies of this compendium were produced, each more extensive than the last; the first (MSS Dresden C.93/C.94) was written in Early New High German, the second and most artistically ambitious (Cod.icon. 393) in New Latin, and the rougher third version (Cod. 10825/10826) incorporated both languages.

Beginning in the 1540s, Mair began purchasing older fencing manuscripts, some from fellow collector Lienhart Sollinger (a Freifechter who lived in Augsburg for many years) and others from auctions. Perhaps most significant of all of his acquisitions was the partially-completed treatise of Antonius Rast, a Master of the Long Sword and three-time Captain of the Marxbrüder fencing guild. The venerable master left it incomplete when he died in 1549, and Mair ultimately produced a complete fencing manual (Reichsstadt "Schätze" Nr. 82) based on his notes. Ultimately, he owned over a dozen fencing manuscripts over the course of his life, including the following:

He also used several printed books as source material for his compendia, and presumably owned copies, including Der Altenn Fechter anfengliche kunst (compiled by Christian Egenolff), Opera Nova by Achille Marozzo, and Ringer Kunst by Fabian von Auerswald.

Mair not only spent incredible sums of money on his fencing interests, but generally lead a lavish lifestyle and maintained his political influence with expensive parties and other entertainments for the burghers and patricians of Augsburg. This habit of living far beyond his means for decades exhausted his family's wealth, eventually leading him to sell the Latin version of his fencing manuscript (netting the princely sum of 800 florins) and finally to begin embezzling money from the Augsburg city coffers. This embezzlement was not discovered for many years (or perhaps was overlooked due to the favor his parties garnered), until finally in 1579 a disgruntled assistant reported him to the Augsburg City Council and provoked an audit of his books. Mair was arrested, tried, and hanged as a thief at the age of 62. After Mair's death, his effects (including his library) were sold at auction to recoup some of the funds he had embezzled.

Whether viewed as an unwise scholar who paid the ultimate price for his art or an ignoble thief who violated his city's trust, Mair remains one of the most influential figures in the history of Kunst des Fechtens. By completing the fencing manual of Antonius Rast, Mair gave us valuable insight into the Nuremberg fencing tradition; his own works are impressive on both an artistic and practical level, and his extensive commentary on the uncaptioned treatises in his collection serves to make potentially useful training aids out of what would otherwise be mere curiosities. Finally, in purchasing so many important fencing treatises he succeeded in preserving them for future generations; they were purchased by the fabulously wealthy Fugger family after his death and ultimately passed to the Augsburg University Library, where they remain to this day.

Treatise

Much of Mair's content represents his revision and expansion of the older treatises listed above, including adding descriptive content to uncaptioned images. Where available, these images are displayed in the left-most column, labeled "Source Images", for comparison purposes. Mair's own illustrations appear in the second image column.

The Dresden version contains the fewest devices, and appears therefore to be the original copy. The Munich adds additional plays and sections on top of the Dresden's contents, and the Vienna likewise augments the Munich, suggesting that this is likely order of creation; conversely, the Dresden has no unique content, and the only unique plays in the Munich are in the section on jousting. To give a visual sense of the expansion of the text, the Dresden illustrations are used wherever possible; the Munich illustrations appear only in those plays that are omitted from the Dresden, and the Vienna in those that are unique to that work. (The exception to this rule is the the grappling section, in which the Munich scans show tighter-fitting clothes and therefore make the techniques easier to follow.)